How many “ands” in a row

How can you put the word “and” 5 times in a row in the same sentence? I need to tell a story.
The landlord of a pub called The Pig And Whistle asked a signwriter to make a new sign. When he saw it he thought that the words were too close together so he said to the signwriter “I want more space between Pig and And and And and Whistle”.

no, no, if the sign red pigandwhistle, there needs to be more space between the pig and and, as well as and and whistle...so he said "I want more space between Pig and And and And and Whistle." it makes perfect sense.

My email account needs 1 set of 2 passwords that i must enter in 2 separate password text boxes. But because the password entry are case sensitive, "And" and "And", "And" and "and", "and" and "And", and "and" and "and" are actually different sets of passwords.

i live on a farm and i have a horse and a chicken and a goat and a pig and a farrett and a dog and a cat and 2 rats and i have a big house and there is 5 bedrooms and the stuff in my room is Bed and blankets and (ect...) the word and can go on forever as long as your explaning something!!Peace everyone

no they are saying, like many of people alrady have, that they're saying there needs to be more space between "Pig" and "And", and more space between "And" and "Whistle"see if u understand it this waythe guy said there need to be more space between "Pig" and "And" and more space between "And" and "Whistle"its quite simple. im in gr 10 n i figured it out:)

Also, maybe by putting quotations around the "Pig", "And", and "Whistle" will help, though I'm not 100% sure if it's grammatically correct that way, but may help clarify the intent while retaining the clever usage of the word.

Everyone has said "and" too many times! The word has no meaning anymore! AGHHH! By the way, I believe the sentence is perfectly grammaticly correct, it's just confusing to one if the sign-maker is trying to convey his message clearly or make a terrible joke.

Everyone is going into way too much thought on this. Adding a comma like the first comment said is perfectly fine. You have to give the readers a cue to take a breath and break up the sentence in their minds. Pig and And, and And Whistle. Also commenting on the statement by "Christina," you cannot have a list of more than two things using "and" between them all. That's why commas are used.

Oh, come on now, everyone. I don't think Martin is asking for any advice. I think he's just being provocative or trying to be clever. Personally, I think he succeeded. By the way, a small thing. The landlord should tell the signmaker about a second mistake. the "And" that appeared on the original sign should not have been capitalized.It should have read: "The Pig and Whistle"

Some 30+ yrs ago my dear father put the challenge to us over dinner as to how it was possible to use the word 'and' five times in sequence and be perfect English. His example read as Goose and and and and and Swan.

At the time I just didn't get it. I recall with much fondness the delight he derived from eventually divulging the answer, but for decades occasionally wondered how on earth the word 'and' could be used as described.

That I missed it was entirely due to the fact that I was too young to process the sublety of the humour, but the challenge itself stuck with me. Years later, thanks to your post, I finally got there! He who laughs last does so because he finally resorts to Google! GIYF!

I got this second hand from my super whome had it put to him at an afternoon meeting by the manager. He and many others did not understand what the manager was trying to say and could not grasp the 5 "ands" and neither did I. Thanks Martin for explaining this to me and on presenting this to my 16 year old son who got it straight away. (It's how you tell it).

Hi. I think you can have an infinite number of consecutive ands and still create a grammatically correct and meaningful sentence. Here is how it works. Assume that you are not pleased with the spaces put between the words "Pig and And and And and Whistle" in the sentence "I want more space between Pig aNd And anD And aNd Whistle" (Capitalization used to mark the different ands.)You may say "I want more space between Pig and aNd, aNd and And, And and anD, anD and And, and aNd and Whistle" (I have used the "Oxford Comma" for clarity.)

Then if you are not happy with the spaces between the words "Pig and aNd, aNd and And, And and anD, anD and And, and aNd and Whistle" in that sentence you can write another sentance which has even more ands, and you can keep going on and on in this way.

The store owner of a dollar shop asks the sign painter and his helper to paint "This And That" above his store. Later, he sees the painter has painted "ThisAndThat". "No, no!" he says. "There's a space between "This" and "And" and "And" and "That!".

The painter's helper looks up at the sign, points and asks "Is that that "That" that that guy was talking about?".

I think the pub story is simply an everyday example. It serves merely to illustrate the idea. There are clearly much better ways to get the message across and in that sense the story is wanting.

AFAIK the most 'and's you can have in series is five. This is because it is only appropriate to use the word and when dealing with two items. Here we have two sets of items, each consisting of a pair of items one item in each of the sub pairs is also 'and'.

You can't continue to add subsets without creating a list, in which you should list the items instead of saying or writing 'and'. Hence the maximum of five given in the example story.

"Pig and and and and and Whistle" is a well known puzzle (I remember the puzzle as a kid), so I could easily decide to write a book of puzzles called "'The Pig and And and And and Whistle' and Other Word Puzzles". Then, as hans.gray suggested, it is fine and grammatical to have a typesetter refer to the spaces between Pig and And, and And and And, and And and And, and And and And, and And and And, and And and Whistle...

A sign writer completed a shop sign incorrectly, so the shopkeeper complained, saying, you've put too many ands in the sign. It should read; Jones and Son. You've put Jones and and Son, Also the gaps between, Jones and and and and and and and and and Son are all different sizes.There you go, and, 9 times in one sentence. Anyone for ands knees and bumps a daisy?

No, Christina, you only use "and" in lists prior to the last item, otherwise commas are used. Plus, I believe the point is to use it consecutively (in a row, right next to itself). Your example just put it (tediously) between things. You also said "your explaining" rather than "you're explaining". Just thought I'd point that out.

Firstly, this sounds like spoken English to me rather than written language, and I think Cristina knew perfectly well what the questioner meant and was simply having a bit of a joke. And in any case there is no rule that says that you' have to use commas instead of 'and' between items; it is simply a convention to replace 'and' with a comma.

Personally, what I find tedious is when people take it on themselves to correct someone else's grammar uninvited.Just thought I'd point that out

I can only assume the reason you've given yourself that particular moniker is that you like to make a drama out of (a grammatical) nothing.

Okay, first port of call - I apologise for making the mistake of thinking that the use of commas in a list is rule rather than convention, not having left school I've not studied English at university. You're most probably from a different country to myself where the rules and conventions are different, so it may be that neither made a mistake.Secondly - I apologise to Cristina if it sounded like I's calling you tedious, I just find it incredibly annoying trying to get through lengthy texts on my computer with my diminished eyesight.Third - my name comes from something I once called my Dad (from whom I picked up some habits) and find making a fuss over nothing as tedious as long lists. I simply can't stand the idea of people holding erroneous or ignorrant beliefs in contradiction to fact - call it a compulsive need to educate. I just don't like people being wrong.

The sentence martin2 originally posted would have been clearer if quotation marks had been placed before Pig and between Pig and and, and and and And, and And and and, and and and And, and And and and, and and and Whistle, as well as after Whistle!